Honorary awards 2023

Amma Asante has been recognised for her trailblazing work in the film industry. Born and raised in South London, Amma started her career as a child actress before moving behind the camera to forge her critically lauded career as a director.

Throughout her career, Amma has told stories that shine a light on both marginalised people and forgotten or overlooked historical events: Amma’s directorial debut ‘A Way of Life’ (2004) was an unflinching exploration of race, poverty and social injustice in contemporary Britain; her critically acclaimed film ‘Belle’ (2013) explores race and identity in 18th century England; ‘A United Kingdom’ (2016) tells the story of Seretse Khama, the first President of Botswana, and his controversial interracial marriage to Ruth Williams. Amma is a past elected member of BAFTA Council and a past BAFTA Film committee member.

As a Black female director, Amma has broken down barriers and paved the way for new underrepresented voices to be heard and acknowledged. Amma’s contributions to cinema have challenged stereotypes, subverted societal norms and empowered marginalised voices. In 2017, Amma was awarded an MBE for her services to film. In 2018, Amma became the first woman to receive the British Urban Film Festival honorary award for outstanding contribution to film and television. 

Caroline Criado Perez OBE has been recognised for services to equality and diversity. 

Caroline Criado Perez OBE is a feminist author, journalist and activist. Caroline studied English Language and Literature at Oxford University and Behavioural and Feminist Economics at LSE. Her best-selling book, INVISIBLE WOMEN: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, highlights the systematic biases behind the data and assumptions impacting our everyday lives. Invisible Women won the Royal Society Science Book Prize and was the Financial Times Business Book of the Year. In 2013, Caroline won the Liberty Human Rights Campaigner of the Year Award for her work campaigning to put women on British bank notes. Caroline has also campaigned for the inclusion of women in the statues in Parliament Square, and as a result the statue of suffragette Millicent Fawcett was unveiled in 2018. As well as her international bestseller Invisible Women, Caroline has also written a book for young girls and women called Do It Like a Woman. Caroline was awarded an OBE in 2015 for her work promoting equality and diversity in the media. 

Jon Ronson has been recognised for his outstanding investigative journalism and cultural contributions. 

Jon Ronson is an award-winning author, screenwriter, journalist and broadcaster. Jon has had a varied and incredibly successful career, from winning the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for podcast of the year for his BBC podcast ‘Things Fell Apart’ to having his books translated into more than 30 languages. Jon studied Media Studies at the Polytechnic of Central London, Westminster’s predecessor institution. Jon’s non-fiction books So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, The Psychopath text, Them, Lost at Sea and The Men Who Stare at Goats have all been international, and/or New York Times, bestsellers. Jon has also written several original screenplays, including the acclaimed Netflix film ‘Okja’ starring Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal which he co-wrote with Oscar winning director Bong-Joon Ho. Jon is a regular contributor to This American Life, the New York Times magazine, GQ, the Guardian, and the BBC. Jon’s journalism covering outsiders and extremists, culture wars and conspiracy theories has provided invaluable insight into our current cultural and political landscape. 

Oscar Murillo has been recognised for his services to Fine Art and promoting tolerance and community. 

Oscar Murillo is an internationally acclaimed, Turner Prize winning artist. Born in Colombia, Oscar moved to Hackney aged 10 with no English. He went on to study Fine Art at the University of Westminster, where he began developing his experimental, boundary breaking work. Oscar describes his childhood in Colombia as essential to developing his resourcefulness and ability to ‘just use what was around’ in his work. Oscar’s multi-media work pushes the boundaries of materials, space and conventions, aiming to articulate opposing social, cultural and political forces to investigate community, globalisation, consumption and migration. In 2019, Oscar was shortlisted for the Turner Prize. After being selected by the panel as the winner, Oscar insisted on sharing the Turner Prize between all four finalists as a set of co-winners. Most recently, he has been commissioned to create an installation for the Tate Modern’s world-renowned Turbine Hall. 
 

Sandi Rhys Jones has been recognised for her services to improving equality, diversity and inclusion in the construction industry.

Sandi Rhys Jones is the President of the Chartered Institute of Building. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, a Fellow of the Women’s Engineering Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an accredited mediator.

In 1998, Sandi was awarded an OBE for promoting women in construction. Throughout her career, Sandi has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the importance of improving diversity and equal opportunities in the construction industry. For example, for five years Sandi chaired Women’s Education and Building, a small charity that trained more women in the construction trades and crafts than the national Construction Industry Training Board. She also devised and delivered an innovative cross-disciplinary mentoring programme for the National Association of Women in Property for more than ten years, training several hundred mentors and mentees.

As a trustee and adviser, Sandi has contributed significantly to the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda of a number of organisations including the Construction Industry Board, UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering, Construction and Technology, the Strategic Forum for Construction, the Housing Forum, EngineeringUK and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. 

Sir Kenneth Olisa has been recognised for services in support of social mobility and inclusion. 

Kenneth studied social and political sciences at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. After graduating he worked for IBM before joining Wang Laboratories where he became Senior Vice President and General Manager of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. After leaving Wang Laboratories, Kenneth started his own IT investment and advisory company, Interregnum. In 2006 he left Interregnum to start his current privately-owned merchant bank, Restoration Partners, advising, raising capital and defining strategy for technology-oriented projects. Kenneth became the first British-born black FTSE100 Director.

Kenneth has had a lifelong passion and commitment to social change and inclusion. He is now Patron of Thames Reach, helping homeless and vulnerable people in London, for which he received an OBE in 2010. Kenneth is also chair of the social mobility charity Shaw Trust, as well as the founder and chair of the Aleto Foundation which helps young people from underrepresented backgrounds develop great careers.  He is a patron of School-Home Support, a charity helping disadvantaged children and young people overcome barriers to education, such as poverty, domestic abuse, and housing issues; Fore, a charity which funds scale-up initiatives for other charities; and the Black Cultural Archives. In 2019, he was appointed President of London Youth, and he is also a Member of the Windrush Commemoration Committee.

In the 2018 New Year’s Honours List, Kenneth was knighted for services to business and philanthropy.